Loving One Another

Archive for the ‘nature’ Category

It was a beautiful blue-sky, puffy cloud day. We left in plenty of time to get to the party by 1:00 PM. But, 23 miles out of Ennis, we ran out of gas!

The nearest gas station was 23 miles back where we came from!

But luckily, we had friends who lived just three miles from where we were, and my cell phone was still in a working range. So I called Nancy and she sent Marty with 1/2 gallon of gas. It was enough to get us back to Ennis. He followed us to make sure we’d make it. Oh my, what good friends!!

There’s the birthday girl, my great-granddaughter, Sienna, with our granddaughter, Hope. We were supposed to be there at 2: It was almost 4: by the time we arrived, but no one had eaten all the cupcakes yet!

Sienna was too busy eating Cheeto puffs!

The party was in this gorgeous setting right on the Gallatin River.

We had BBQed hamburgers before heading back home. We went the “other way,” through Four Corners rather than through Gallatin Gateway to avoid the road construction that delayed our arrival at the party.

The ride home was along the Gallatin River and through the Canyon that separates Madison and Gallatin Counties. Beautiful scenery!

The sky clouded even more as we returned home to Ennis, but the rain held off. It was a beautiful day – and a treat to celebrate Sienna’s #1 birthday with her.

Do you have grandchildren or great-grandchildren?
Do you get to celebrate their birthdays with them?

My 2020 resolution is to “Walk the Talk.” It is a daily commitment. What was your 2020 resolution?

Try to “Walk the Talk.”Try to live your commitments.Express them daily.

Today I walked with my TOPS friends. Here are two of them with me: Cherrie & Jeannie. We walked in our Lion’s Club Park. Did a lot of talking as we walked. Tried to solve all the world’s problems!

Valais, Switzerland

No, this isn’t my walking path… it’s my daughter, DeAna’s, in Sierre, Switzerland. She walks this trail up into the Alps – often joined by one or two of her three sons. Yesterday she sent this photo. Our grandson, Chris, was her walking partner.

DeAna “walked the talk” with Chrissy as they navigated the trail on the terraced mountainsides and enjoyed the outdoor time together.

Here is DeAna, our daughter, with her new haircut.No, she’s not in Paris. That’s just her “photo op!”

.

And before that haircut:

She says she’d like to be on a tropical island!I’d say being in Switzerland is not a bad option!

Today De’s walk was with Christine, a friend who was one of their waitresses for almost 20 years in the restaurant they once owned on main street in Sierre.

Christine – on the balcony overlooking the Swiss valley

Half way up the Alps from their city is a beautiful little place called Vissoie, De and Andre’ have purchased a new restaurant… new to them, but with a long history in this Alpine village.

It has that typical Swiss chalet appearance with a hotel attached above and on the right. They take possession in October, I think.

Isn’t this an inviting spot? As they plan for this new venture, they get to “Walk the Talk” of trust. Trust that this pandemic world will not always keep people sequestered and afraid to go out and dine together. Trust that the people of Vissoie and the surrounding communities will accept them and frequent their dining hall. Trust that visitors will stay in their hotel.

My prayers are with them, of course, as I encourage them in this exciting new time on their lives.

Lion’s Club Park, Ennis, Montana

As my lady friends and I walked the trail in our beautiful park, we talked about family, commitments, future events, the racial injustice that is sparking protests all over the USA, and the COVID-19 situation that is far from over.

My goal is encouragement and positivity. I share my faith here on WordPress, and I share the Source of my Joy with my walking friends.

That Mercer sign is for a 7 acre parcel right next door to us.
We could be next-door neighbors!

The ERA sign is at the end of the cul-de-sac – just a stone’s throw away – down where you see the telephone poles in the first photo.

See, there’s our house up there – just beyond the sign. Aren’t you looking for wide open spaces and Big Sky, fresh air and a friendly, cheerful, inclusive neighborhood? Here we are!! You can build your dream house right here.

This beautiful home with the best neighbors imaginable, Rex and Penny, could be your neighbors … besides us, the Beekmans with the robin babies in our back yard. Hey, look closely! That one on the right has her eyes open!

This nest is on this porch where I am sitting right now with my laptop, Rita and Robbie are coming and going, feeding their babies, paying no attention to me! I love it!!

The nest is in the shadow just left of the small bedroom window. My chair is in the sun with my tabletop in the shade. I have a bird’s eye view of the robin activity.

This morning was a beautiful, sunny. warm, still day – perfect for a walk in Lion’s Club Park by the Madison River that is less than 5 minutes from us. I met a couple of TOPS friends and we walked around by the river, the baseball field, the playground…

From this view of the river, there is a bench, a painted sculpted fish, and a gorgeous view of the Madison Range across the valley.

Come go for a walk with me. There are benches along the way, picnic tables, barbecue pits, a baseball field and a playground. Young children usually flock here. But, I was early. They started to arrive as I was leaving.

On the way to the post office after my walk, I passed another For Sale sign. Our friend, Niel, died recently after a long battle with cancer. His cozy little house in town is for sale. Maybe you’d prefer this. You’d be on a smaller lot in a more modest neighborhood downtown. Look at this lovely place. Interested? Call the ERA number on the sign at the top of this post.

Your neighbors across the street have this lovely tree – and these beautiful opium poppies. What a great little town our Ennis, Montana is!!

Driving home from there, I took the golf course route. Here’s the scene just a mile from our home:

They keep it well maintained and lots of our neighbors love getting out on the course on a day like today.

Peaceful, beautiful, clean, clear, friendly … … what more could you ask?

Oh, I forgot to add there’s a darling little lake at Lion’s Club Park where the kids can fish and keep the trout they catch. The Madison River has a “catch and release” policy to preserve the natives. And there’s an old tractor at the park where the kids can climb and pretend FARMER. We have a lot of cattle and wheat farming in our Madison Valley.

But it’s best known for the Madison River and the fly fishing.

Will you come and be my neighbor?
Caroline & Chuck are building right down the hill from us.
They’d be great neighbors for ya, too!!

Share this:

Like this:

Thank you, Guideposts, for your inspirational daily messages. On this Memorial Day that is so different from those past, I am grateful for the men and women who sacrificed for our freedom.

Free to Live and Build

I am grateful for the freedom to live in this beautiful place in Montana where the robins sing, build their nests, lay their eggs, and feed their babies right outside my dining room window! I’m free to just bee… free to do nothing but sit and watch today… if that’s my choice!

I see that wall to the north of my dining room table. The window there leads to our bedroom.

I watched Rita and Robbie, the robin duo, build the nest and lay the eggs. Fifteen days later, they hatched!

Now Rita Robin brings worms to the babies.

They are hungry little robins, begging for more.

Rita Robin leaves… and Robbie Robin comes to feed them next! Robins mate for life. It is such fun to watch them take turns caring for the nest. Rarely is it left uncovered like this these days.

Free to Bee… Free to Recover…

I found this beautiful, stunned bird sitting on the front porch this morning. Is it a wren? It’s really tiny. Even when TazE (our Boston Terrier) went out to sniff at it, it didn’t move. It was free to just bee… bee still for a while. A half hour later, it was recovered – and thankfully flew away. Free to recover. Free to fly.

Free to Marvel

As I sit here and watch the robins take turns in the nest, I am eternally grateful to those service men and women who gave their lives that I might enjoy the peace I have today. Peace to sit here and marvel at nature. Free to enjoy the peace, and to FaceTime with my daughters across the continent and across the Atlantic.

De & Laina

Peace to watch Bob head off with a neighbor to fish the Madison today.

I hope he is free to catch a big one, like my friend Susan Phillips did this week… and then free to catch and release so someone else can be free to have the thrill of catching this beauty! Our Madison River has a “Catch & Release” policy because the trout all are natives… no “planting” allowed. It’s a world-class fly-fishing mecca!!

The pristine Madison River in Madison County, Montana

What are you free to do today?Tell me about it.And what are you most grateful for?

Let God tell you, “You are not alone.”Let God gently hold you.Let God listen to your pain and sing your worries away.Let God remove the darkness.Remember, He accepts you as you are.God is nature. He created the earth and you.You are never alone.

God bless you, dear friends.Listen to His healing words of love and let Him hold you.Have a beautiful Sunday evening/night.I’ll see you tomorrow.